ANNUAL CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY REPORT
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
About This Report
This report covers the company’s Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR) activities from our 2018 fiscal year
until this report was published in March of 2019, unless
otherwise specified.
In preparing this report and selecting the topics and metrics
to include, we have referenced the reporting frameworks
developed by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board
(SASB) and the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI).
This report is an important step in disclosing more about our
CSR efforts. Moving forward, we will continue to closely review
the company’s overall strategies, create and use benchmarks
to expand our efforts and commit our resources in the areas
where we believe we can make a difference.
For questions or to provide feedback, please visit our
website at www.bookingholdings.com or email at
BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
ABOUT THIS REPORT 2
A NOTE FROM OUR CEO 4
Our Approach to Corporate Responsibility 5
COMPANY OVERVIEW 6
2018 HIGHLIGHTS 8
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT 11
Booking Booster 13
Booking Cares Fund 15
Booking Cares Labs 16
ENVIRONMENT 20
Energy Use & Emissions 21
Water Use & Waste 23
EMPLOYEES 24
Diversity & Inclusion 25
Employee Engagement, Training & Well-Being 30
Ethics & Integrity 32
CUSTOMER PRIVACY 34
Governance 36
Table of Contents
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
A Note From Our CEOAt Booking Holdings, we help millions of people experience the world every day through seamless technology powered by our six major brands.
With operations in more than 220 countries and territories
worldwide, our teams work around the clock to build and improve
the technology that empowers people to more freely travel across
borders, time zones, languages and cultures. We fundamentally
believe that travel can bring out the best in humanity, which is why we
continue to invest in our brands and our people, to grow our business
so that our technology can reach more people across the globe.
While I am incredibly proud of the global business we have built, I am
continually reminded of an often-cited line by Sir Winston Churchill:
“The price of greatness is responsibility.” As a global Fortune 500
company, we have a responsibility not just to our customers, our
employees and our shareholders, but to the world that we are
working so hard to help people experience every day. We believe that
the management of a company’s environmental and social impacts is
not only the right thing to do, but also a key part of this responsibility.
In 2018, we committed more resources than ever to varying
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts including initiatives
to promote sustainable tourism, improve global business and tech
industry diversity, reduce environmental footprints and create and
improve healthier workplaces for our more than 24,000 employees
across more than 300 office locations around the world. Some
highlights include the second annual Booking Booster program,
pioneered by our largest global brand Booking.com. Through this
program, 10 start-ups dedicated to sustainable tourism received grants
totaling €2 million. Booking Cares, Booking.com’s flagship volunteer
program that encompasses Booking Booster, amassed more than
30,979 hours of local community service across 447 projects in 2018.
GLENN D. FOGELCHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER & PRESIDENT
Our brands also continue to lead efforts promoting increased
awareness of gender parity issues, particularly within the technology
sector. Recently OpenTable announced a commitment to 50/50
gender equity globally, and Booking.com launched their inaugural
Women in Tech Program, which provides scholarships and mentoring
programs to women seeking to further their education and
advancement in the technology and STEM sector. Two of our most
global brands, Booking.com and Agoda, are comprised of more
than 50% women, and with more than 150 nationalities across our
24,000+ employee base worldwide, we believe that our workplaces
should reflect our customers and communities because it is both
good business and good for the local economies.
These are initiatives I am very proud of, but this is just the beginning.
We recognize that there is still more to be done and we are
committed to ensuring a more sustainable future so that anyone,
anywhere can experience the world for generations to come.
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
As a large and growing company in a rapidly shifting industry, our
approach to Corporate Social Responsibility continues to evolve as we
solidify our long-term vision for the company, and expand the breadth of
brands and services we offer to consumers worldwide.
The epicenter of our CSR work is driven by Booking Cares, which
supports innovation in the sustainable tourism space. This program
is driven by our largest business and most global brand, Booking.
com. Through an accelerator program that identifies and empowers
sustainable tourism start-ups, a robust global volunteer program and a
fund that champions non-profit sustainable travel projects, Booking.com
is supporting the long-term health of a variety of locations around the
world. The program focuses on five key areas: inclusive growth, tech for
impact, the environment, tourism dispersal and cultural heritage.
This report is intended to capture and illustrate the activities taking
place across our brands on topics related to: community engagement,
environment, employees, ethics and integrity, customer privacy and
governance. Together, these efforts create meaningful impact to affect
real and lasting change.
Our Approach to Corporate Responsibility
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
Company Overview
We are the world leader in online travel and related services, provided to customers and partners in over 220 countries and territories through six primary brands
Booking.com, KAYAK, Priceline, Agoda.com, Rentalcars.com and
OpenTable. Our mission is to help people experience the world.
We believe that by making it easier to experience the world, we
are doing our part to make humanity better.
Our company had $92.7 billion in gross bookings in 2018. We
are headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, with more than 300
offices around the globe. Across our brands, we employ more
than 24,000 people.
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
O V E R V I E W
We operate through six primary brands
Booking.com is the global technology leader in connecting travelers with
the widest choice of incredible places to stay.
KAYAK is the world’s leading travel search engine with a mission to help
people experience the world by creating their favorite travel tools.
Priceline is an online travel brand that offers more ways to save and more
deals than any other travel site.
Agoda is a global online accommodations provider, a technology
innovator and a high-energy company based in the heart of Asia.
Rentalcars.com is the world’s largest online car rental and ground
transport service.
OpenTable is the world’s leading online provider of
restaurant reservations.
B O O K I N G . C O M
K A Y A K
P R I C E L I N E
A G O D A
R E N T A L C A R S . C O M
O P E N T A B L E
H E A D Q U A R T E R S
H E A D Q U A R T E R S
H E A D Q U A R T E R S
H E A D Q U A R T E R S
H E A D Q U A R T E R S
H E A D Q U A R T E R S
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, with
198 offices and call centers in 70+
countries worldwide.
Stamford, Connecticut, and
operates sites in more than 60
countries
Norwalk, Connecticut
Singapore, with 45+ locations
in 30+ countries
Manchester, England
San Francisco, California
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
Booking Holdings was ranked by Forbes in their “Best
Employers for Women” and “World’s Best Employers” lists.
B E S T E M P L O Y E R S
F O R W O M E N
W O R L D ’ S B E S T
E M P L O Y E R S
Booking Holdings conducted its first
enterprise-wide carbon footprint analysis.
Booking Holdings sponsored the 2018 Pride
Parade in New York City, with all US-based
businesses participating in the parade.
2 0 1 8 H I G H L I G H T S
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
10S T A R T - U P S
€2M I L L I O N
10 start-ups dedicated to sustainable tourism
were supported in the Booking Booster program,
receiving grants totalling €2 million from the
Booking Booster Fund.
12 NGOs were awarded grants totalling €2 million from the Booking Cares Fund.
12N G O
€2M I L L I O N
Booking Cares’ global volunteer program amassed 30,979 hours by
5,140 employees across 447 projects.
30,979H O U R S
5,140E M P L O Y E E S
447P R O J E C T S
Booking.com’s Women in Tech Program partnered
with the University of Oxford and Delft University of
Technology to provide €500,000 worth of scholarships
to women looking to further their education and
advancement in the technology sector.
€500,000I N S C H O L A R S H I P S
2 0 1 8 H I G H L I G H T S
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
OpenTable announced commitment to 50/50 gender equity globally.
50/50G E N D E R E Q U A L I T Y
OpenTable’s Giving Tuesday campaign
generated a total of 2,730,000 meals for
food insecure families.
2,730,000M E A L S
2 0 1 8 H I G H L I G H T S
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
We are proud of our brands’ philanthropy, volunteerism and
giving programs that span the globe and positively impact the
environment, people and communities.
Booking Cares, the epicenter of our CSR activity driven by our
largest business, Booking.com, is focused on transforming the
global travel experience into a powerful force for good through a
series of bold initiatives — Booking Booster, Booking Cares Fund,
Booking Cares Labs and Cares Volunteers — that support and
scale sustainable tourism.
Community EngagementCaring deeply for the communities in which we operate is a foundational belief across our companies.
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
C O M M U N I T Y E N G A G E M E N T
By The Numbers 2018
€54.2KT O T A L D O N A T I O N T O
E M E R G E N C Y R E S P O N S E
I N I T I A T I V E S
V O L U N T E E R H O U R S
30,979
5,140E M P L O Y E E S
P R O J E C T S
447
191 O F F I C E S
€2MB O O K I N G B O O S T E R
T O T A L G R A N T F U N D
Booking Cares volunteers
donated 30,979 hours to 447
projects 5,140 employees from
191 offices participated in the
Booking Cares program.
€2MB O O K I N G C A R E S
T O T A L G R A N T F U N D
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
“One of the biggest benefits of mentoring and working together with these inspiring start-ups and changemakers is that it also introduces new ideas to the Booking.com business and helps invigorate our own people.”
SAKHA CONSULTING WINGS:
WOMEN ON WHEELS
GLOBAL HIMALAYAN EXPEDITION
COMMUNITY HOMESTAY NETWORK
KETEKA
WHEEL THE WORLD
HIVESTERS
HOTEL CON CORAZÓN
KITRO
REFLOW
TASTEMAKERS
2018 Winners
Booking Booster
Launched in 2017, the Booking Booster program works to support
innovation within the sustainable tourism industry by giving start-ups the
tools, skills, resources and networks they need to create lasting change.
In 2018, 10 start-ups were given the opportunity to pitch for grants of
up to €500,000. They received three weeks of coaching and workshops
with Booking.com experts before pitching their plans to a live audience
and panel of judges. The ten winners, who came from six different
countries and operated across six continents, including Antarctica, were
awarded grants from the €2 million Booking Booster Fund.
C O M M U N I T Y E N G A G E M E N T
MARIANNE GYBELSHEAD OF CSR
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
Sakha, a 2018 Booking Booster award winner, provides safe and reliable transportation services for women by women across India. In doing so, Sakha provides women with an unconventional, sustainable and dignified livelihood.
There was no market for women-driven transportation services in India
in 2008, when the company started. As part of the Women on Wheels
program, delivered in collaboration with the Azad Foundation, Sakha
employed women chauffeurs to provide safe transport to more than one
million women across Delhi, Jaipur, Kolkata and Indore over the years.
To date, Sakha has provided remunerative employment with dignity in
transport to more than 500 women.
Many women drivers trained through Women on Wheels have been able
to find jobs as chauffeurs employed by organizations and individuals,
bus drivers, valets at prestigious institutions and driving instructors for
other women.
Spotlight: Sakha Supports Women DriversC O M M U N I T Y E N G A G E M E N T
Sakha enables resource-poor women in urban India to reclaim their
dignity, rebuild their identity and be self-reliant, both socially and
financially. By providing safe transport to women, Sakha has also
contributed to increased mobility and safety of women in the cities,
including foreign female travelers.
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
Another initiative is the Booking Cares Fund, which was launched at the
end of 2017 to support the wider sustainable tourism industry and all
players within it.
The Fund champions non-profit sustainable travel projects which present
new and unexpected solutions to reimagine the industry. Projects come
from and take place all over the world representing universities, non-profits,
research institutes and governments.
Booking Cares Fund
A ground-breaking research project that aims to understand the
effects of nature-based tourism on behavioral change.
A platform to provide accessible tourism information, services
and cultural experience opportunities for Chinese travelers with a
disability (85 million people) and 220 million people over 60.
A cutting-edge hospitality academy in South Africa for
disadvantaged women.
The first-ever Booking Cares fund recipients
received grants between €100K and €250K and included:
These initiatives are only the beginning of how Booking.com is supporting sustainable tourism for the long-term. Looking toward the future, the business will look to expand by integrating sustainability features into the brand’s products.
C O M M U N I T Y E N G A G E M E N T
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
Booking Cares Labs
At the end of 2017, Booking Booster gave rise to Booking Cares Labs,
which supports early-stage sustainable tourism start-ups through
high-intensity, three-day regional programs in places around the
globe such as Amsterdam, Tel Aviv and Barcelona.
C O M M U N I T Y E N G A G E M E N T
labs
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
For the past four years, the Booking.com Cares Volunteer Program has enlisted employees to contribute their time and expertise to help improve destinations worldwide. The program’s participation rate has remained consistent at 40% even as the company has grown.
Restored the beautiful coral ecosystem in Sattahip, Chonburi, by
coming together to plant new corals and raise awareness of the
importance of conserving the underwater environment.
Lent a hand to the National Elephant Conservation Centre in
Kuala Lumpur by scrubbing the paddocks and assisting with
maintenance and landscaping, giving these rescued elephants
a more suitable home.
Recently, Booking Cares volunteers have:
Spotlight: Cares VolunteerismCOMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
OpenTable sits at the center of a marketplace between diners and
restaurants. With this in mind, the brand conceived of a campaign to
allow diners to tap into the season of giving while leveraging OpenTable’s
strong diner and restaurant networks. For two weeks, starting on Giving
Tuesday, OpenTable diners were able to donate their OpenTable Dining
Points to the Share the Strength’s No Kid Hungry® campaign.
OpenTable has been a national sponsor and partner of
Share our Strength’s No Kid Hungry® campaign for the
past 12 years. The campaign works to end childhood
hunger in America.
At the campaign’s conclusion, 28,000+ people donated a total of
2,480,000 meals. When added with the 250,000-meal match by
OpenTable, the campaign generated a total of 2,730,000 meals.
With an initial goal for this campaign to generate 500,000 meals total,
the campaign exceeded its goal.
The results of the 2018 campaign far exceeded expectations:
Spotlight: OpenTable’s Giving TuesdayCOMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
Agoda launched its official CSR program in 2018 with a goal to support
and scale employee-nominated projects that address a key issue in
local communities.
Through this program, the company has supported Doctors Without
Borders, donating $50,000 at the end of 2018. Other localized projects
have taken place across Asia. In the Thailand office, more than 70
employees got together for the Give a Dam project, where
employees built a check-dam in the Phetchaburi forest to help
sustain wildlife in the forest.
In Myanmar, the Agoda team held an event in collaboration with
Thant Myanmar to raise awareness on reducing plastic usage in the
tourism sector. Employees provided training and toolkits and helped
Agoda hotel partners set commitments to reduce single-use plastics
in their properties. 71 hotels participated, and 73% set plastic
reduction commitments.
In Singapore, the team participated in the AmCham Walk for
Rice event, contributing one bowl of rice for every 100m walked.
There have also been numerous other local efforts in India,
Hong Kong, and Indonesia, as Agoda continues to support issues
that matter to the different markets in their own unique ways.
In addition, Priceline donated more than 1,000 turkeys for its
Thanksgiving Turkey Drive, an annual tradition that has taken
place for more than 10 years.
Other brands are doing their part to develop and execute their own social impact programming that aligns with their priorities and passions.
Stepping Up In CommunitiesC O M M U N I T Y E N G A G E M E N T
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
As an internet company that facilitates technology-driven travel experiences, we know that careful stewardship of the environment starts with our own business.
Across our brands, we are focused on mitigating the environmental
impact of our business by increasing efficiencies, decreasing waste and
adopting more sustainable practices.
Environment
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
We have offices in more than 70 countries and territories around
the world, and we are powered by 16 major data centers, which are
leased in the U.S., the U.K., Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany,
Singapore, Russia, Hong Kong and China.
With a commitment to measuring and understanding our carbon
footprint, this year we conducted our first enterprise-wide audit of our
energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. The results will allow us
to measure the impact of operations and help us identify our priority
areas to address in the coming years.
Energy Use & EmissionsE N V I R O N M E N T
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
E N V I R O N M E N T
Annual Performance Data
Nearly all of our energy use and emissions are from electricity use in
our leased office spaces and data centers. In calendar year 2017, our
total Scope 1 and Scope 2 GHG emissions were estimated at 51,335
tonnes of CO2e. Electricity use in our leased data centers and office
spaces contributed to almost 90% of our carbon footprint, with data
centers representing nearly half and our offices representing 40% of
our impact. The remaining 12% of GHG emissions are from our
customer service centers located throughout the world. Among the
16 data centers we operate globally, 73% of energy use for data centers
is from our Amsterdam and Slough, England, locations.
Energy Use & Emissions cont.
Because we lease our office spaces and data centers, we are limited
in our ability to address the source of our energy use directly. Our
purchase of renewable energy reflects what is available for purchase
in the electricity grid in the countries where our office spaces and
data centers are located.
Across our offices, we engage with property managers to implement
energy efficiency programs and incentives. Meanwhile our largest
business, Booking.com, is developing a building for its headquarters.
This will be the first building owned by any of our brands with
the aim to be accredited with a Building Research Establishment
Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) excellent certificate,
giving us more direct control over our energy-efficiency initiatives.
40%
47% 1%
12%
ENERGY USETOTAL ENERGY CONSUMPTION (MWh)
2017 GHG EMISSIONS BY SOURCE
DATA CENTERS OFFICES CALL CENTERS
WAREHOUSES & COMPANY-OPERATED VEHICLES
GHG EMISSIONSTOTAL SCOPE 1 &2 (TONNES CO2e)
SCOPE 1
SCOPE 2
3,37247,963
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
Our highest source of water consumption comes from our data
centers, and because we lease all of our data centers, we do not
have access to the data on water use. But across our offices, we
are reducing our water use through a number of water efficiency
initiatives, such as installing low-flow and automatic faucets.
The majority of our waste impact is related to standard office
operations. Each brand manages waste independently in accordance
with regulations in each country of operations. Booking.com
implements building design principles that reduce construction
waste and incorporate waste separation in all offices supported by
the local destination. OpenTable’s San Francisco office partners with
a company to collect e-waste such as old monitors, keyboards,
cables, servers, and desktops—and both of its Denver locations utilize
their respective buildings’ e-waste recycling programs. Across North
America, OpenTable works with a partner to pick up all recyclable
electronic items.
Water Use & WasteE N V I R O N M E N T
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
Employees
Our company and brands share a common commitment to help others experience the world. We work hard and take great pride in what we do.
At our high-energy and dynamic workplaces, we want employees to
feel valued as a part of the team and excited to contribute to the long-
term growth and success of the company and our mission. To create
a positive workplace, our brands are taking steps to boost diversity,
enhance benefits and create abundant opportunities for training and
professional growth.
As of December 2018, we have 24,000+ employees around the
world. The vast majority of employees work at the brand level.
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
With more than 150 nationalities across our employee base
worldwide, diversity is at the core of our company culture, and we
are committed to making our company one of the most diverse and
gender-balanced tech companies in the world. We believe that when
our workplaces reflect our customers and communities, we create a
stronger business and a better future.
As a corporation, we are continuously looking for ways to promote
inclusive cultures. Recently, Booking.com conducted a cultural
assessment of the Leadership Team and held workshops on inclusion
and unconscious bias training for corporate employees.
Diversity & Inclusion
E M P L O Y E E S
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
Our brands are also rolling out education, recruiting, mentoring and
hiring initiatives that support and encourage a diverse and inclusive
workforce that enables individuals from all backgrounds, genders,
cultures and perspectives to reach their full potential.
Recently, OpenTable has made a concerted effort toward hiring more
women, with much success. This effort includes reviewing and updating
job descriptions to eliminate unintended gender bias through Textio to
ensure accuracy. As the applicant pool grows and diversifies, OpenTable
will be working to ensure that at least two women candidates appear on
the finalist list for consideration for every engineering hire.
In 2018, Booking Holdings was ranked on Forbes list of
the “Best Employers for Women.”
Three (23%) members on the Booking Holdings’ Board of
Directors are women.
50% of the brand CFOs across the company
are women.
50%
The CEO of our largest business, Booking.com
is a woman.
C A L L O U T
We continue to focus on developing women leaders and recently
completed the third, and largest, cohort of the Booking Holdings
Women in Leadership Program, which brings together women
leaders across our six businesses to provide mentorship and facilitate
networking. In 2018, we launched an alumnae community for the
current and future graduates to connect and network.
Diversity and Inclusion cont.
E M P L O Y E E S
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
In 2018, employees in the tech department nominated and recognized
internal technology playmakers — employees who had either been a
role model or were active in driving diversity within the workplace. They
also launched an internal mentorship program, focused on accelerating
the development of women employees — developers, designers,
data scientists and team leaders — in growing their technical and/or
leadership career.
At Booking.com, more than half of the workforce is made up of women, and 20% of the technology focused team are women.
With more than 50% of the workforce comprised of women at Agoda,
a grassroots women’s network was formed — bringing together women
from all departments across the organization. Fireside chat panels are
held featuring dynamic women leaders in the organization throughout
the year. Agoda’s desire to improve support and recognition of women
leaders also led to the launch of its inaugural Women’s Leadership
Initiative. The intensive program was driven by a cohort of senior and
emerging tech and non-tech leaders with a focus on cross-cultural
leadership, unconscious bias and transformations. A second cohort will
be launched in 2019.
Spotlight: Unity in DiversityE M P L O Y E E S
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
We are proud of our brands’ work to create more inclusive communities
and connections beyond the workplace.
In 2017, OpenTable launched its OpenKitchen campaign, as part of its
commitment to help end the historically exclusionary, abusive restaurant
culture. This campaign included webinars for restaurant leaders focused
on anti-harassment practices and gender inclusivity, and workshops on
topics such as how to be an ally in the workplace and how to create an
inclusive culture for the LGBTQIA community.
In 2017, Booking.com launched its Women In Technology program and
partnered with Web Summit, the largest tech conference in the world, to
host a Women in Tech networking and mentoring program in an effort
to create more opportunities for women to enter, advance and thrive
in the technology sector. In 2017, the mentoring event attracted nearly
200 mentees, matched with 60 high-profile industry mentors. In its
second year, in 2018, the event matched more than 500 mentees with
350 high-profile mentors. As part of the Women in Technology program,
Booking.com also launched scholarship programs in partnership with
the University of Oxford in the UK, and the Delft University of Technology
(TU Delft) in the Netherlands. The program consisted of 15 scholarships
that were granted to women looking to further their education and
advancement in the technology sector. The grants equaled €500,000
across both university partnerships.
Booking.com also launched its Technology Playmaker Awards in 2017,
and extended the program into 2018. The program is designed to
celebrate and recognize women who have disrupted or are transforming
businesses, industries and communities through the use of technology.
There are 7 individual award categories, each with a €5,000 prize.
Individual winners also have a chance to win the top prize of €10,000
and become the Booking.com Technology Playmaker of the Year.
“We still see gender bias in the workplace, especially in the tech industry, although it is getting better. While we are on the right track, there is still so much further to go. We need the tech industry to be even more diverse, and it’s the responsibility of tech companies and leaders to push for positive change, both within and outside the walls of their companies.”
Beyond The WorkplaceE M P L O Y E E S
GILLIAN TANSBOOKING.COM CEO
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
m a l e f e m a l e ot h e r
m a l e f e m a l e ot h e r
Employee Diversity
Executive Diversity as of Q4 2018
as of Q4 2018
57%
43%39.5 %
57.8%
2.7%
29.9%
69.6%
0.5%
53.3%
44.7%
2.0%
40.4 %
57.9%
1.7%
42.9%
56.8%
0.3%
33 %
67%
27 %
73%37 %
62%
1%27 %
73%
8%
92%
29 %
71%
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
Across our brands we aim to facilitate a company culture where each
employee feels engaged, connected, healthy and professionally fulfilled.
Our efforts are working. One way our brands provide a rich experience
for employees is by providing a myriad of opportunities for employee
engagement. Employee resource groups are one example of how
employees find connection and engagement. These groups, such as
Agoda’s Life Groups, provide spaces for employees to share their interests,
backgrounds and talents. Life Groups are designed to create inclusive
environments in light of the company’s rapidly growing talent diversity.
There are more than a dozen active Life Groups formed around varying
areas of interest from fitness to music to machine learning.
Driven by a global wave of evangelizing wellness to help alleviate “office
syndrome,” fitness-related Life Groups (yoga, football) have organically
expanded to multiple locations such as Bangkok, Shanghai, Seoul,
Budapest and New York.
As the Life Groups mature, Agoda will continue to investigate new ways
to utilize the groups’ power and their diverse membership to drive positive
business results.
Across our brands, we are working to support employees with manager
training, peer-to-peer learning, mentorship programs and new tools
that focus on self-directed learning. Some brands focus on executive
leadership, such as Priceline, which launched an executive leadership
program for top leaders called Elevate. Other brands are focusing on
collaboration, such as Rentalcars.com, which has brokered partnerships
with specialist learning sites including LinkedIn Learning and Safari Books.
Employee health is another top priority. Each brand follows mandated
policies for health care benefits, which vary widely from country to
country. We perform regular benchmarking of benefits and wages to
ensure it remains competitive in what it offers and that it complies with
local laws and regulations.
OpenTable’s family-friendly benefits earned it a “Healthy Mothers
Workplace Award.” Benefits include up to 10 weeks of paid leave,
wellness rooms with hospital-grade pumps for new moms and a service
that makes it easy to ship breast milk home during business travel.
OpenTable also offered LUCY, a service for one-on-one coaching of new
and expecting parents to support their transition back to work.
Employee Engagement, Training & Well-Being
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
The company’s Mental Health First Aiders programs supports colleagues
suffering from mental health issues by introducing them to practical
steps they can take to maintain good mental health. In addition, the
organization is equipping managers with the information they need to
spot and handle employee mental health issues.
To reduce the stigma, Rentalcars.com has focused on raising
consciousness of this often-misunderstood issue. During Mental
Health Awareness Week, employees took advantage of onsite massage
therapists and workshops on resilience, stress, anxiety, meditation,
yoga and mindfulness. During that week, colleagues were encouraged
to share their own stories. The positive reception to these stories
modeled that it was OK to discuss mental health and that the
company is there to offer support to ensure the good mental health
and wellbeing of employees.
Rentalcars.com believes that good mental health of its employees is key to creating a truly amazing place to work. To this end, the company is taking steps to make mental health a top priority.
Spotlight: Prioritizing Mental HealthEMPLOYEES
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
Our culture is rooted in integrity. We are committed to conducting
business ethically and legally to achieve the right results, the right way.
Ethical business practices unite all of our brands across the world.
Our Code of Conduct provides guidance for our employees and
suppliers about anti-bribery and corruption, fair competition and
antitrust, privacy and data security, non-discrimination, and reporting and
investigation among other topics. We also have formal policies regarding
political contributions.
Ethics & Integrity
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
The first part of this effort was a company-wide survey, which assessed
the overall ethical culture and the Program’s effectiveness. The survey
found that Booking Holdings has a strong ethical culture. However,
there were opportunities for improvement: Employees reported that
while ethical subcultures exist, unethical behavior is underreported;
they expressed a desire for more awareness about the company’s
Compliance & Ethics Program.
The assessment concluded that a lot of good steps have been taken
in the area of ethics and compliance, and it also pointed to gaps in the
current program implementation. Under the new program, all brands are
expected to operate and measure progress through key performance
indicators. In addition, a greater emphasis will be placed on manager
responsibility for driving compliance and ethics messages into their
teams. To do this, managers will be better trained and given resources
and action plans to meet this standard. To start, we recently launched
an initiative called Ethics Moments, periodic manager-led discussions in
which managers and their teams stop, think, and talk about compliance
and ethics topics, initiatives or policies.
2018 Compliance & Ethics Highlights
In order to hold ourselves to the highest standards of integrity, we recently embarked on a journey to improve our global Compliance and Ethics Program.
E M P L O Y E E S
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
Our millions of customers trust us with some of their private information whenever they use our sites. We take the responsibility of maintaining the security and privacy of our customers’ data extremely seriously.
We spend a lot of time evaluating new investments to keep privacy at
the heart of our mission and the services we provide. All of our brands
operate according to key principles of privacy protection, while each
brand is responsible for its own privacy program, employee training,
compliance and third-party partnerships.
CustomerPrivacy
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
Booking.com operates to the strictest security standards which are enshrined in their privacy principles.
These principles ensure that Booking.com complies with GDPR and that they strictly only use customer
data to serve customers in line with their expectations.
KAYAK completed a General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) plan, resulting in 65 million inactive user
accounts deleted. All KAYAK offices with engineering or marketing employees were trained in person.
KAYAK also successfully deleted legacy data and semi-automated its data subject rights practice.
Rentalcars.com rolled out a mandatory privacy and security training for all employees, and
developers also had secure code training.
OpenTable achieved SOC 2 certification, an auditing procedure to ensure industry-leading privacy
standards are met for customer data. As of Q4 2018, OpenTable was live with GDPR on both its consumer
and restaurant systems.
B O O K I N G . C O M
K A Y A K
R E N T A L C A R S . C O M
O P E N T A B L E
2018 Highlights
C U S T O M E R P R I V A C Y
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BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty
Our company has governance practices and policies in place to ensure
business conduct and performance aligns with the interests and
expectations of stockholders and other stakeholders.
The Board of Directors provides oversight and counsel to management
and represents the interests of stockholders. As of December 2018,
the Board is composed of 13 members, the majority of whom are
independent, including an independent lead director. There are
three Board committees: Audit, Compensation, and Nominating
and Corporate Governance. Only independent directors serve
on the committees.
GovernanceC U S T O M E R P R I V A C Y
BOOKING HOLDINGS | Corporate Responsibi l i ty